Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

If there's one thing I've gotten quite bad at as I've grown older, its finishing the games I've bought. I'm not sure why that is, though no doubt laziness has something to do with it. However, proving that miracles occur from time to time, I did recently finish a game and that game (as you can tell by the title of this post) was Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective.
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (which I will refer to as simply Ghost Trick from now on) is an adventure game created by Shu Takumi of Capcom, which was initially released on the Nintendo DS in 2010 and then ported to the IOS. Its the later version of the game which I've played.

Ghost Trick opens up in a junkyard, where a man has just been killed. You, the player, is the ghost of said man. As a ghost, you suffer from that most common affliction among video-game protagonists: Amnesia. Fortunately,you soon meet up with another ghost, Ray, who informs you that  in your current state, you possess a variety of new abilities, such as; being able to possess objects, travel through phone-lines and finally, turn back time to four minutes before a person's death. Using these abilities, you save the life of Lynn, a young detective who was present at the junkyard and so, the two of you team up to solve the mystery regarding your identity. The first thing you learn is your name: Sissel. Better hurry up though, because you only have until dawn to find out the truth about yourself.

As one would except from a game by the creator of the Phoenix Wright series, Ghost Trick is filled with colorful, memorable characters, ranging from the instantly likable Missile (who is the best dog in all of gaming) to the flamboyant and suspicious inspector Cabanela and many others. Of course, like any mystery-story worthy of the genre, few of these characters are who they truly appear to be, including Sissel himself. Story-wise, Ghost Trick is also very good, with a plot that takes many twists and turns and never failed to keep me engaged, wondering which new development would wait around the corner.

When it comes to the actual game-play, Ghost Trick uses the iPad's touch controls excellently. When I played the Ubisoft WWI game, Valiant Hearts on my iPad, I sometimes got annoyed with how the game controlled, but this was not an issue here. Puzzles vary in difficulty, though I wouldn't call any of them really hard. The only time I found myself getting frustrated with the game was during the ninth chapter, in which you have to help a prisoner escape from death-row. This part of the game was quite tedious and I soon resorted to a walkthrough, in order to get past it as quickly as possible.

All in all, I highly recommend Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective to anyone who wants a great adventure game. In my opinion, it stands as one of the best representatives of its genre.

Visiting Prague

For once, the lack of new posts is not due to the blogger's habitual laziness. I spent the past few days in Prague, accompanied by my parents and only recently got back home. I enjoyed my visit to the Czech capital immensely; Prague is a beautiful city, with impressive architecture Its easy to see how writers like Gustav Meyrink could create some of their most famous works living there.

We were fortunate enough to have good weather, which certainly aided the experience. The only time we experienced rain was during our last evening in the city.

Among the highlights of my visit, I must especially mention the Karel Zeman Museum. For those not in the know, Karel Zeman was a Czech film director and animator, famous all over the World for his innovations in visuals and special effects. The Museum is well worth a visit, regardless of whether or not you're aware of who Karel Zeman is.

Another positive thing about Prague, at least if you're a tourist, is how inexpensive everything is, particularly the food and drink. Speaking of food, we found an excellent Italian restaurant called Tempo Allegro, close to our Hotel. Highly recommended if you like Italian food and who doesn't? 

For the bibliophile not versed in the Czech language (which I'm not), it pleases me to tell that Prague features quite a few English bookstores and so, I've had ample opportunity to add to my library. Its possible that I may review some of the books on my blog in the not-too distant future, though I make no promises.

All in all, I had a great time and would definitely return to Prague at some point. If you haven't been there, I recommend a visit.

Comics That Should Be Translated: Il Etait Une Fois en France

Ever since I first discovered him, the Frenchman Fabien Nury has quickly become one of my favorite comic-authors.. Nury's work tend to fall under the "historical fiction"-genre, which as, you may know, is one of my favorite genres. Of all the comics that Nury has written, my personal favorite remains the one which introduced me to his work: Il Etait Une Fois en France (Once Upon A Time in France), drawn by Sylvain Vallée.

Il Etait Une Fois en France is based on the true story of Joseph Joanovici, one of the more obscure, yet fascinating characters of that horrible time in history known as the Second World War. In the comic, we follow Joanovici from the moment he arrives in France as an illiterate, Jewish immigrant, to his rise as one of the nation's wealthiest men and a hero of the resistance, to his eventual downfall.

As one would except from a comic like this, Il Etait Une Fois does not lack in suspense. The reader is treated to some very tense moments of sabotage, double-crossings, scheming and murder, as Joanovici does his best to live and prosper, making himself indispensable to both the Nazi occupation forces and the French resistance, while ultimately being loyal only to himself. However, Il Etait Une Fois en France is first and foremost, a character-study and its creators paint a very compelling portrait of their protagonist. Joanovici is a very ambiguous character, one who's both easy to root for and condemn, at the same time. On one hand, he's an opportunist and war-profiteer, who will betray and/or kill anyone, including his closest comrades, in order to prevent his double-dealings from being revealed. On the other hand, he also finances the resistance and uses his money and influence to save many lives.

Though Joanovici is the star of the comic, he's far from its only memorable character. Fabien and Nury surrounds their anti-hero with a strong supporting cast, consisting of family, friends, convenient allies and enemies. Among the characters that make a particularly strong impression are Lucie, Joseph's highly competent and loyal assistant, who also becomes his mistress, and Lafont, the diabolical head of Paris' gestapo and easily the most despicable character in the comic. Both of these characters, as well as several others, are based on historical figures.

On the visual side of things, Sylvain Vallée's artwork, with its realistic style and muted colors (courtesy of colorist Delf), compliments Nury's story very well. There were times during my read of Il Etait Une Fois en France, when Vallée's artwork made me think of some of my favorite classic movies, which I feel is appropriate.
As of the time of this post, I've yet to read the sixth and final volume in this series. However, even if it should turn out not be up to the same standards as its predecessors, I can say without a doubt that Il Etait Une Fois en France rank among the best comics I've read and one that's more than deserving to be available in English.